29  Evolution

As the individualized soul progresses, it has one aim. This is not conscious, but because of its propulsion, its aim is to merge again with its source, the universal self.

Man is the only animal that has the power to expedite his evolution. All the other kingdoms, mineral, plant, and animal, have to flow with the propulsion of nature and within the limitations that were created at the start of the creation of this cycle.

From the primal propulsion everything up to the stage of man proceeds within its own framework of energy, with its own inherent power of propulsion. Nothing expedites it and nothing can retard it. That inherent sense of propulsion creates what we call instinct. It is instinct because it is unlearned, it is something within oneself which is forever guided in the direction of further evolution by this all-pervading intelligence.

No lifetime is ever wasted. We always learn something.

The body is a vehicle for the mind and the mind is the troublemaker that forms the barrier between pure consciousness, or Divinity, and the body itself. The process is to clarify the mind; the mind must achieve. The achievement of purity is what we term evolution.

No one else can evolve anyone else, one has to evolve oneself.

We came to Earth like a school. We have come to learn. Why should be learn? . . . because we want to evolve. Why do we want to evolve? . . . because we want to be away from suffering. We want to reach that state of primal peace from which we have come. But to reach that state of peace we have to go to school. This is the school.

At every turn there is an opportunity to learn and evolve. Because it is inherent within us to evolve, we cannot stop evolution. It is a force that carries us on and on. Even all the trials and tribulations of life are nothing but opportunities. When we view adversities in this light the sting of the so-called adversity disappears, because what makes us suffer is our own minds, nothing else.

Man does not want to adapt himself to truth, but he wants to mold the truth to his needs. That can never be evolutionary.

The primal atom, containing within itself the individual soul, came into its individuality through a vast explosion at the start of the present cycle of the universe. Before the explosion occurred things were in a state of equilibrium. Within this state of equilibrium were fine currents which were carried over from a previous cycle of the universe. It is these currents that enlivened themselves into a state where the explosion became inevitable. When the explosion occurred, all the various atomic and subatomic particles flew forth. That is where the soul gained its individuality. So, from the Universal Self, which composed the entire universe, sprang little particles of individuality.

Because of creation there also has to be dissolution . . . not destruction, but dissolution. Before the creation of this universe there was silence. The whole purpose of expansion is to reach the silence again, and that is what we mean by evolution.

When the universe goes into dissolution, it is called in Sanskrit pralay, a period of quietness. For this period of quietness we could use the analogy of a smooth, quiet ocean. That ocean, or the universe, is not entirely quiet but it has reached the subtlest form of the sattvic level. If you observe the ocean when it is very quiet, with no waves or ripples, there is still a current working in the ocean that is not stilled. So when this universe reaches pralay, or stillness, there are still fine currents to bring that stillness back to activity. And that is how the next cycle begins.

The seed exists in the tree and the entirety of the tree exists in the seed. What happens in between, from the seed to the tree, is called evolution. Everything can exist in the evolved state and it can also exist in an involved state.

The true meaning of “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” is that life is eternal, that life goes on perpetuating itself through dissolution and re-creation. The entire universe, which is a manifestation of the manifestor, is eternal. But because the universe can only operate in cycles, its change is seen only within the cycles, and not in its entirety. The entirety of creation, while forever changing, remains eternal.

Within this universe, this planet earth is not unique. There are many earths that are similar to this earth, with the same kind of people. Therefore, we are not to regard ourselves to be the sole possessors of knowledge. Beyond this stage of evolution, there are still further stages of evolution. This will continue on and on until our present cycle ends; but the ending of this cycle will be the beginning of another cycle. That is why we say that the universe is infinite and eternal. Within the framework of the infinity you have more cycles.

As it proceeds in evolution, the atom multiplies itself. Further combinations occur and these in turn form different kinds of matter. The essence of the primal atom is the same, but its expression is different.

In this evolutionary process, we do not travel a distance. The little atomic particles that compose our system are traveling and in a state of flux. The changing self that forever has to keep on changing travels within the framework of the mind in time and space. But that which is changeless travels nowhere. It is forever present. Meditation teaches us to know of that changeless aspect which is ever-present. This little atom swirls around in its evolutionary space, in silence. The ultimate goal is to re-experience the silence, which you can call by any name you like—Divinity, God, Godhead. Then reaching the ultimate goal of silence, you will realize this whole universe is but a dream.

When a human being takes the first incarnation, bringing with him the memory of all previous material existences, certain tendencies are formed. Even animals don’t have the same experiences. Take the example of a cat. Two cats don’t have the same experiences and neither do two dogs. They go through different kinds of experiences. One cat could be an alley cat (that has to scrounge for a living), while another cat could be worshipped and given the best chair in the house! Animals, too, go through different kinds of experiences. The impressions of those experiences are contained within the mind of a human being when he takes his first incarnation.

The first incarnation is composed mostly of awareness of the physical self. It is aware that it needs food, water, and to perform other biological functions. These needs in turn create further needs, and this is how greater and greater bondage occurs. Today he hunts a deer and he gets a small one, but he will want to have a bigger deer the next day. Since all these impressions start forming and forming, do not think that in the first incarnation you one is karma free.

Even the most primitive man had some bit of thinking ability. Even at the first incarnation into the human species there was the tendency to develop further, and the evolutionary force was pushing to a more expanded consciousness. This force will forever keep pushing until one becomes aware of total consciousness. Many lifetimes will pass, until that pure, total consciousness is attained.

Once having reached humankind it is not possible to be reincarnated below it. This is a fallacious idea that is found in some Eastern philosophies. They say if you live a bad life then you will get reincarnated as a dog or a cat, or a mouse or a cockroach! This is not true; evolution is forever progressive.

A human being can never be reborn into a lower kingdom. Once one has reached the human stage, he will always be human, but in the range of humanity one can fluctuate up and down. This movement is determined by the actions we do and by the thoughts we think. These things influence, guide, and condition us to experience higher and higher levels of humanity.

We can only evolve ourselves. Nobody can do it for us. Other guides can help; they can kindle the spark, and fan it until the flame becomes so strong that it does not need the wind anymore. It finds its own impetus to burn.

“Good” is when your every action is life-supporting and spontaneous, in accordance with nature. Many acts might not seem supportive at their surface value, yet those may be the very actions required to put you further on the pat of evolution and bring about greater harmony.

Why do you want to know about your past life? How is it going to help you in this life? Someone might say that, “Oh, by knowing of the mistakes of the past life, I will avoid making them again.” That is not the way. Where the spiritual Self is concerned, you do not analyze darkness, you switch on the light. Then mistakes vanish, darkness vanishes, light is there.

If a person reaches the highest limits of his existence on this earth yet has not become self-realized, he will live on another planet which has a population of beings higher than us. But having the discriminative faculty here, we can transcend all those existences and reach the source. We have that ability within us. If we want to progress in the force of evolution that is carrying us along, we can reach other existences on a far finer level, a level where we could sit in silence and my thoughts would be conveyed to you without uttering a word.

When a person reaches the highest level of evolution on this planet, then he has to be reincarnated on another planet. On that planet he would start off as a primitive man in comparison with the others that are more evolved. So the procedure goes on until one reaches the finest level of the mind. By reaching the finest level of the mind the entire mind becomes subdued. What remains? The spirit remains, for the spirit is eternal.

Everyone contains three elements: animal, human and God. By right thinking and right action, we progress towards a higher level of humanhood reaching into Godhood. That is why we have some living gods on earth, man-gods. This level of life is a possibility for everyone.

The basis of man is the spiritual self and that spirit, or Divinity, is forever perfect and pure. That Divine spirit does not require evolution. That divine spirit does not need to be reincarnated.

There will never be an Age of Enlightenment on this planet Earth. There will never ever be a time when every human being living on this planet will be an enlightened being. In this entire evolutionary process we are just a small section in a vast continuum. In this little section that contains four billion people, we will find some transcending the boundaries of the section and some that are entering the field in their first human incarnation. So, evolution-wise, the whole world can never be in an enlightened state. As a certain section becomes enlightened, or reaches a higher state of evolution, there are other kingdoms below ours that are entering, continually feeding into the evolutionary process.

When we talk of an Age of Enlightenment we think in terms of the whole world being enlightened. That could never happen. The greatest masters that came down to Earth as the Incarnation of Divinity itself could not achieve this, though they did help achieve greater happiness for the world.

The mother is the controller of tomorrow’s destiny—not only of her child, but of the world. The woman is the controller of the destiny of mankind. As she becomes a better person she produces better children, who produce a better world.

That which seems nothing to you is everything. Because in that nothingness there is that power that has made a seed and this seed has the power to grow into a big tree. That nothingness is propelled by itself to become everything, because everything was there in nothing all the time.